The State Environmental Protection Administration’s highly anticipated new measures, which take effect on March 18, are explicitly aimed at ushering in an era of openness in a traditionally secretive sphere. “This is the first official document on public involvement in the environmental sector, which will make government decisions in the sector more transparent and democratic,” Xinhua quoted SEPA deputy director Pan Yue as saying.

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The official news agency reported that construction managers and environmental protection departments “will be obliged to consult public opinion” on a project’s potential environmental impacts. It quotes the guidelines as saying that this involvement of the public must be conducted in “an open, equal, extensive and convenient way.” The concept of public participation in project decision-making has been on the books in China since the Environmental Impact Assessment Law came into force on Sept. 1, 2003.<a href="#¹“>¹ But how the process was supposed to work in practice remained unclear, and people whose lives were turned upside down for major projects continued to have no input into the schemes or access to information about them. “The lack of transparency in decision-making has resulted in disputes on environmental impact and even mass unrest after the completion of many construction projects,” Mr. Pan told Xinhua. Five methods are to be used to facilitate public participation in the EIA process: opinion surveys, expert panels, forums or informal discussions, feasibility studies and hearings. “And after a hearing has been held, the construction unit or organizing agency should append explanations that detail the reasons for accepting or rejecting the comments made by the public,” Mr. Pan told People’s Daily. Activists in China’s burgeoning environmental sector, who have become increasingly vocal in advocating for the rights of communities affected by potentially harmful projects, welcomed SEPA’s guidelines. Wang Yongchen, a journalist and founder of the Beijing-based Green Earth Volunteers, said the new measures give her hope because, for the first time in China, they legitimize the public’s right to participate in environmental protection. “The institutionalization of public participation in the EIA process is a sign of progress and a reflection of social change,” she told Shanghai’s Morning Post (Xinwen chenbao). “Decision-making on important projects has for a long time been made by the state and by project authorities behind closed doors, and the public had no say. But now the public does have the right to more information, and to participate and voice opinions with a view to influencing those decisions.” There is a long way to go, she added, with many people in China currently having little access to information on environmental issues. “I hope that the measures can be spread to every corner of China, especially in some remote areas, to wake up local people’s awareness of protecting the environment,” Ms. Wang told China Daily.